In a variety of transactions, customers or buyers of goods or services typically receive receipts from their respective merchants or service providers as proof of existence of conducted transactions. Generally, receipts are issued by merchants and service providers for a number of reasons including, for example, regulatory or tax reasons and convenience purposes. A receipt provides information about a corresponding transaction for the purpose of providing all participants with a trace or record of the transaction. Receipts may be used for various purposes including, for example, proving participation in a transaction for tax reporting purpose; managing exception situations arising from a transaction, such as, product return; facilitating a subsequent transaction between a service user and a service provider, such as, being used as a claim ticket for equipment on repair; or facilitating provision of complementary services, such as, warranties.
Generally, receipts are provided in printed form. There is, however, a number of shortcomings associated with printed receipts. For example, printed receipts contribute to operating costs for the merchants and service providers. Also, printed receipts once they are issued to the consumers are difficult to track and/or audit. This limited ability to track and audit printed receipts makes them particularly susceptible to fraudulent uses (such as, forgery, misuse, etc.). Furthermore, from a consumer standpoint, printed receipts have limited convenience inherent to their physical attributes.
In some systems, electronic receipts are stored on a portable device. However, storing of the electronic receipts is often performed on an ad hoc basis and such systems do not provide any meaningful management of the electronic receipts after they have been stored.
Hence, it would be desirable to provide methods and systems that are capable of addressing the foregoing and other issues and managing and using electronic receipts in a more efficient manner.